Maelstrom

In fulfilling the course requirements for the Honors Seminar on Chaos, I decided to produce a work of fiction that explored what I felt to be some interesting applications of correct speculations on chaos. The universe of Star Trek: The Next Generation was chosen for several reasons to be the fictional medium of these applications. First, I had no desire to invent a universe out of whole-cloth. Second, I felt my purposes would be better served if I had some pre-set limits to work with, which Star Trek provided. Third, I just wanted to see if I could do it. The fact that I produced a work of fiction at all, instead of trying to find find chaos in the real world (which, admittedly, this isn\u27t) is consistent with information listed in article four of the course syllabus

A Content Analysis of Select Universities\u27 Undergraduate Percussion Audition Repertoire Requirements

https://scholarworks.moreheadstate.edu/student_scholarship_posters/1025/thumbnail.jp

Accounting Choice, Home Bias, and U.S. Investment in Non-U.S. Firms

This paper examines the relation between accounting choice and U.S. institutional investor ownership in non-U.S. firms. We predict that U.S. investors exhibit home bias in their preference for accounting methods conforming to U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) because such methods are more familiar, reduce information processing costs, and are perceived as higher quality. We find that firms exhibiting higher levels (changes) of U.S. GAAP conformity have greater levels (changes) of U.S. institutional ownership. Lead-lag regressions suggest that increases in U.S. GAAP conformity precede increases in U.S. investment, but changes in U.S. institutional holdings do not precede changes in accounting methods. We also find that the positive relation between U.S. GAAP conformity and U.S. investment holds regardless of a firm\u27s visibility to U.S. investors (e.g., American Depositary Receipt listing, stock index membership, analyst following, firm size). However, we find that U.S. GAAP conformity has a significantly greater impact among firms already visible to U.S. investors

Open Versus Closed Conference Calls: The Determinants and Effects of Broadening Access to Disclosure

Recent advances in information technology allow firms to provide broader access to their disclosures. We examine the determinants and effects of the decision to provide unlimited real-time access to conference calls (i.e., “open” conference calls). Our evidence suggests that the decision to provide open calls is associated with the composition of a firm\u27s investor base and, to some degree, the complexity of its financial information. We also find that open calls are associated with a greater increase in small trades (consistent with individuals trading on information released during the call) and higher price volatility during the call period

Uncanny Valleys in Declarative Language Design

When people write programs in conventional programming languages, they over-specify how to solve the problem they have in mind. Over-specification prevents the language\u27s implementation from making many optimization decisions, leaving programmers with this burden. In more declarative languages, programmers over-specify less, enabling the implementation to make more choices for them. As these decisions improve, programmers shift more attention from implementation to their real problems. This process easily overshoots. When under-specified programs almost always work well enough, programmers rarely need to think about implementation details. As their understanding of implementation choices atrophies, the controls provided so they can override these decisions become obscure. Our declarative language project, Yedalog, is in the midst of this dilemma. The improvements in question make our users more productive, so we cannot simply retreat back towards over-specification. To proceed forward instead, we must meet some of the expectations we prematurely provoked, and our implementation\u27s behavior must help users learn expectations more aligned with our intended semantics. These are general issues. Discussing their concrete manifestation in Yedalog should help other declarative systems that come to face these issues

Androsterone glucuronide to dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate ratio is discriminatory for obese Caucasian women with polycystic ovary syndrome

BACKGROUND: Androsterone glucuronide (ADTG) concentrations have been suggested as a marker of the effects of androgens at the target tissue level. As the mechanism for hyperandrogenemia in obese and nonobese polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) may differ, this study compared the different androgen parameters in non-obese compared to obese women with PCOS, and in normal subjects. METHODS: Eleven non-obese and 14 obese women with PCOS were recruited and compared to 11 control women without PCOS. Total testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEAS), ADTG, and androstenedione were analysed using gold standard tandem mass spectrometry, and the free androgen index (FAI) was calculated. RESULTS: Total testosterone, ADTG and androstendione levels did not differ between non-obese (body mass index (BMI) ≤25 kg/m2) and obese PCOS (BMI >25 kg/m2) but all were significantly higher than for controls (p < 0.01). The ADTG to DHEAS ratio was significantly elevated 39 ± 6 (p < 0.01) in obese PCOS in comparison to non-obese PCOS and controls (28 ± 5 and 29 ± 4, respectively). The free androgen index (FAI) and insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) were significantly higher in obese PCOS compared to non-obese PCOS and controls (p < 0.01). DHEAS was significantly higher in the non-obese versus obese PCOS (p < 0.01). All androgen parameters were significantly lower and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) significantly higher in normal subjects compared to those with obese and non-obese PCOS. CONCLUSIONS: The ADTG:DHEAS ratio was significantly elevated in obese PCOS compared to non-obese PCOS and controls suggesting that this may be a novel biomarker discriminatory for obese PCOS subjects, perhaps being driven by higher hepatic 5α reductase activity increasing ADTG formation in these women

NUTRIENTS IN RUNOFF FOLLOWING THE APPLICATION OF SWINE MANURE TO INTERRILL AREAS

The P content of swine manure can be reduced through the addition of feed supplements or the use of selected corn hybrids. This study was conducted to compare interrill runoff losses of P and N from three soils following the application of swine manure obtained from selected diets. The soils used in this investigation included a Hersh sandy loam, Pierre silty clay, and Sharpsburg silt loam. Simulated rainfall was applied during both initial and wet runs to a soil pan on which swine manure produced from low phytate corn (LPC), phytase added to the diet (PHY), or a traditional corn diet (TCD) was added. Additional experimental treatments included inorganic fertilizer and an untreated check. For the initial rainfall simulation run, concentrations of dissolved P, bioavailable P, and Total P were greater for the fertilizer treatment than any of the manure treatments. Use of manure from a LPC diet generally did not result in a reduction in N and P concentrations in runoff when compared with the TCD. Concentrations and total amounts of nutrients transported in runoff were affected by soil type. Changing the TCD to LPC and PHY diets to reduce the P content of manure did not significantly affect the total amounts of DP, BAP, or Total P transported in runoff, when simulated rainfall was applied soon after manure application